Fastlane (2015)
Fastlane (2015) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on February 22, 2015, at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the first Fastlane event, replacing Elimination Chamber. Seven matches were contested on the main card with no match on the pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship shot against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. On the undercard, Bad News Barrett retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose and Rusev defeated John Cena via submission to retain the WWE United States Championship. Also at the event Triple H had a "face-to-face" confrontation with Sting. The pay-per-view also saw the return of Randy Orton. The event received 46,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down from the Elimination Chamber 2014 figure of 183,000 buys, which predated the launch of the WWE Network. Storylines The card consisted of seven matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers. Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. On November 23, during the main event of Survivor Series, Sting made his first appearance in a WWE ring by attacking Triple H with a Scorpion Death Drop and dragging Dolph Ziggler on top of Rollins, giving Team Cena the win and causing the Authority to be removed from power. On the January 19 episode of Raw, Sting appeared backstage during the main event, a 3-on-1 handicap match between John Cena and the team of Big Show, Kane, and Rollins. The lights in the arena darkened as Sting walked to the stage and gestured to the Authority at ringside. The distraction allowed John Cena to pin Rollins for the win, which reinstated the recently (kayfabe) fired wrestlers Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan. When On January 26, Triple H challenged Sting to a "face-to-face" confrontation at Fastlane. When Triple H reiterated his challenge on the February 9 edition of Raw, the lights went out, and a group of Sting impersonators appeared around the arena and inside the ring, illuminated by spotlights, while the real Sting accepted the challenge in a video message. After failing to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, John Cena was being interviewed after the event. When asked what was next for him, Rusev, who was the last man eliminated from the Royal Rumble match interrupted the interview. The two shoved each other and got into each other's faces. On January 26, Rusev was scheduled to defend his United States Championship against Cena at the event. On the January 29 episode of SmackDown, Nikki Bella was scheduled to defend Divas Championship against Paige at the event. On the February 2 episode of Raw, Roman Reigns was manipulated by The Authority into agreeing to defend his title opportunity for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31, which he had earned by winning the Royal Rumble match, in a match at Fastlane. Later that night, Daniel Bryan defeated Seth Rollins to earn the right to face Reigns at the event. On January 19 edition of Raw, Dean Ambrose defeated Bad News Barrett. The following weeks, Ambrose demanded a match for the Intercontinental Championship, but Barrett declined. On the February 16th edition of Raw, after Barrett defeated Damien Mizdow, Ambrose attacked Barrett by tying his hands around the ring post, forced him to sign the contract and had Barrett defend his title against him at the event. On the January 29 episode of SmackDown, Tyson Kidd defeated Jey Uso. On the February 2nd episode of Raw, Cesaro defeated Jimmy Uso. On the February 9 episode of Raw, Cesaro and Kidd defeated The Usos. On the February 16th edition of Raw, the Usos were scheduled to defend their Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Kidd. Early in the year, Gold and Stardust started having problems communicating in their matches, with Stardust (Cody Rhodes) becoming further entrenched in his gimmick, causing friction between the brothers. An angry Stardust walked out on a match against The Ascension on the February 2 edition of Raw. After a loss to The New Day on the February 16 edition of Raw, Stardust attacked Goldust. On the February 19 edition of SmackDown, Goldust was scheduled to face Stardust at the event. On the February 9 edition of Raw, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan came out and helped Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns to defeat Seth Rollins, Big Show, Kane and J&J Security. On the February 16th edition of Raw, after Ziggler defeated Rollins via disqualification, he was attacked by Rollins and J&J Security, but Ryback, and Rowan came out and saved Ziggler. On the February 19 edition of SmackDown, after Rollins defeated Ziggler, the Authority attacked Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan. On February 19, it was announced that Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan were set to face Rollins, Big Show, and Kane in a Six man tag team match at the event. The pre-show included a "Miz TV" segment with Paul Heyman as the guest. Aftermath On the February 23 edition of Raw, Randy Orton called out Seth Rollins to a match. When the Authority appeared instead of Rollins, Orton apparently rejoined them. On the March 9th edition of Raw, Orton would insult each member of The Authority, only to pass it off as a joke, but later in the night, Orton would refuse a tag by Rollins during a 2-on-1 handicap match against Roman Reigns, intentionally cost both of them the match. Afterwards, Orton brutally attacked Rollins, following it up with an RKO through the broadcast table. Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan avenged their loss on the February 26, 2015 edition of Smackdown, defeating Rollins, Kane and Big Show. Bray Wyatt called out the Undertaker after a series of mysterious messages that were played out on February episodes of Raw and SmackDown saying he was no longer afraid of the Undertaker and proclaiming that he was "the new face of fear". On the March 9th episode of Raw, Undertaker accepted Wyatt's challenge to face each other at Wrestlemania XXXI by setting Wyatt's trademark rocking chair on fire with a bolt of lightning. Paige received a rematch against Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship on the March 2 edition of Raw, which she won via DQ after Brie Bella interfered. The Bellas attacked Paige post-match, only for AJ Lee to return and fight the Bellas off. The Usos received a title rematch against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro on the following night's Raw. Natalya turned heel during the match when she interfered and caused a disqualification that kept the titles from changing hands. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Fastlane Category:Fastlane PPV Category:Pay-Per-Views